Aston Villa secured a 1-0 victory against Fulham at Villa Park, which saw them climb to fifth in the Premier League table and enhance their prospects of participating in European competition for the first time since 2010.
The decisive goal was scored by Tyrone Mings, his first league goal since November 2021, as he nodded in John McGinn’s exceptional in-swinging corner with a glancing header.
Despite Andreas Pereira’s acrobatic volley striking the side-netting after just 30 seconds, Fulham failed to generate further clear-cut opportunities.
Following this win, Unai Emery’s Villa remains unbeaten in 10 Premier League games and are now positioned above Tottenham, five points adrift of third-placed Newcastle United, albeit having played two more matches.
Since their defeat to Rapid Vienna in the Europa League play-offs in August 2010, they have not featured in Europe.
Meanwhile, substitute Jamie Vardy’s late equalizer rescued a Premier League point for Leicester City against Leeds United, with both sides still embroiled in a relegation scrap despite settling for a 1-1 draw.
Vardy calmly slotted in a goal in the 80th minute from James Maddison’s pass, and he believed he had secured the win with a close-range strike, but it was disallowed for offside.
Colombian winger Luis Sinisterra opened the scoring for the hosts with a header at the back post from Jack Harrison’s pinpoint cross, but they were unable to maintain their lead.
The draw leaves Leicester in a precarious position, only out of the bottom three by goal difference, and they could fall into the relegation zone if Everton avoids defeat against Newcastle on Thursday, with Leeds ahead by a point.
At Molineux, Wolves took a significant step towards preserving their Premier League status for next season by defeating Crystal Palace 2-0, but they still require “more points” to stay safe.
Wolves gained the lead after three minutes when Ruben Neves’ corner hit Palace’s center-back Joachim Andersen’s knee and bounced off the crossbar into the net.
In a game low on clear-cut chances, Neves’ stoppage-time penalty finally settled the contest, as Wolves moved nine points clear of the relegation zone, despite being bottom of the table when Lopetegui took over as manager in November.